Well, guess what? We are studying the book of Revelation Are you excited? I’m excited about this.
I’m excited about this book. I have avoided teaching this for way too long. And a lot of people do. There is so much mystery. There are so many things involved in it. There’s so much disagreement about it. There are so many things to interpret. There are numbers like the number seven is repeated over and over again.
Then there’s the one number that everybody wants to know, right? What is it? 666. What is that? And what does that mean? Or is it 616? And then there’s the 144, 000. And then there’s 1, 000 years. Is it a thousand years? Is it not a thousand years? What in the world? All of these mysterious things with numbers.
And there’s symbols. There’s lampstands and stars and precious stones. There’s a sea of glass. There’s locusts. There’s horses. There’s a road that’s made out of glass that you can see through. Any of you have a road like that in your neighborhood? There are so many mysterious things in this book. There’s the tribulation judgments.
There are trumpets and seals and bowls and woes. And then, is the rapture in there somewhere? Where is the rapture in the book of Revelation? We’ll have to talk about that. Then there’s the four living creatures. Well, who in the world are they? Or the 24 elders? Or the book with seven seals? And then one thing I love about Revelation, everywhere you look, by the way, the Psalms are the largest book in the Bible that includes songs. Singing. The second largest one is the book of Revelation. There is music after music after music in this great book. And what I love about it is every time they’re singing, it’s loud singing. Joe, are you into that? Joe’s giving me thumbs up loud singing. I love that there are so many things going on.
There are tribulation martyrs in heaven. Then there’s silence in heaven. There are sealed witnesses. There are judgments on the earth. There’s demons and angels and plagues. There’s two witnesses. There’s the antichrist and the false prophet. And who is the antichrist? I’ll tell you. Oh, he’s the Antichrist. That’s who he is. And then there is so many other things. There is mystery Babylon. There’s the marriage supper of the Lamb. There’s the battle of Armageddon. There’s a lake of fire. Satan bound. A millennial kingdom. Satan released. A great white throne judgment. New heavens and earth. I’m telling you, Hollywood can’t touch this book. It is filled. Are you, are you with me on this? It is filled to overflowing with incredible things to study. There’s action. There’s adventure. It’s kind of like the princess bride, Joe. And then there’s controversy. Joe’s always wondering when the princess bride is going to leak into every sermon. There’s controversy.
What in the world does all this mean? Can I suggest to you that godly, born again, diligent students of the Bible. have disagreed about this book for centuries. And that’s probably why some people shy away from it. They aren’t sure how to approach it. There’s different views, we’ll cover more next week. There’s a historicist view, there’s an idealist view, there’s a preterist view, and there’s a futurist view, which by the way is the view that Jesus holds. There’s different views on what the thousand years mean. There are some who are amillennial. There are some who are postmillennial. There are some who are premillennial. And there’s a bunch of you who just don’t care. We call you panmillennial. It’ll all just pan out in the end. You just don’t even want to think about it. But God gave us this book, didn’t he? For profound reasons. And I want you to be excited about studying this with me. Yes, there’s different views on the rapture. There’s pre trib, mid trib, pre wrath, post trib. Then why bother studying it?
Well, I hope to engage on some of that with you today and more so next week. Why it’s critical that we study, understand, and apply these truths. It’s not just for information’s sake. It’s not just so that we can argue with someone who has a different view and when. That’s not it at all. It’s not just good preaching material that makes people want to come to church. And it certainly isn’t simply to scare people into the kingdom. Then why? Before I answer why we’re gonna study the book of Revelation, I want to take this week and go broader and just say in general, why study prophecy at all? Why is that important? Why And what are the reasons God would say why we should study prophecy? What is the reason to study it? What is our response to it? When we understand God’s prophetic plan, what are we supposed to do about it? And that’s what I wanted to give you today. I want to give you five biblical reasons, five biblical responses to prophetic truth.
Let’s Now, I want you to think with me about this for a moment, because when you think about the Bible, are we supposed to study it properly? 2 Timothy 2. 15, we’re supposed to rightly divide the word of truth. Are we supposed to be doers of it? James 1 says, don’t be forgetful hearers, but effectual doers. So we are supposed to study it intensely, understand what it means, and then apply it diligently. When you think about this, why study prophecy? Because when the Bible was written, when each book was written, some say one fifth and others say more than one fourth of it was prophetic at that time. Some of it has been fulfilled now. But if God gave us one fourth of this great book as prophecy, then we ought to be those that are diligently studying it, And then understanding it and applying it.
So let me give you these five reasons why we should study prophecy. The first one comes out of 1 Thessalonians 5, so please turn there in your Bibles. If you have a regular print Bible, I want to hear the pages turned. And if you have a digital Bible, then I don’t know what’s going on. 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 1 through 10. And in here, the Apostle Paul will tell us prophecy motivates us to be watchful of our own lives and then to warn others about what God is about to do. Let’s read this in First Thessalonians, First Thessalonians chapter 5. And by the way, this is really critical. Have you ever heard someone say, you guys are on the wrong side of history? Anybody ever heard that statement? Hey man, you guys are out of touch, you’re living in the stone age, we have evolved, we have a better understanding now of what’s right and wrong. You are on the wrong side of history. One of the main themes of the book of Revelation is that if you are with Jesus, you are on the right side of history. Amen? Because history is His right side. Story, and he is in control of it, and prophecy helps us understand Jesus is completely in control of all things at all times. So you want to be on his side, because his side wins.
So let’s take a look here at 1 Thessalonians 5. Paul writing to the Thessalonians. He’d only been at that church for three weeks. When he planted that church, he was there three weeks. He got run out of town. Six months later, he writes this letter back to them. And he had taught them amazing things in those three weeks. In fact, he just refers back to the, by the way, I already told you this stuff. So, let me build upon it and refresh your mind. Now as to the times and the epics, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a, what?
A thief in the night. Does a thief warn you? Does he send you a text message? Hey, by the way, I hope you’re ready. I’m coming at 337 a. m. No, he just comes and you need to be ready while they are saying, these are the people who aren’t ready, peace and safety. They think everything in the world is peachy keen.
Then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child and they will not escape. By the way, we’ve been through a lot of this labor pain stuff recently with our grandchildren, our children and grandchildren. We understand this. All of a sudden it comes and when it hits it just starts building and building and building to a crescendo.
So he says that’s what’s going to happen. But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness. So then, let us not sleep as others do, but let us be what? Two things. Alert and sober. Have your eyes wide open, have your mind clear, be ready to respond, be engaged in the process.
For those who sleep, do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of what? Salvation, this, this hope, this present assurance of a future promised good that we know is going to happen.
We are guaranteed it’s going to happen. There is no question in our mind it’s going to happen. The day is coming. We’re going to be delivered from this wicked world. Jesus is coming back. Amen. And that’s what prophecy tells us. He is coming back and he’s going to make things right. We have that hope. It drives everything in our lives.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him. Paul is saying some really critical things here. Prophecy reminds us that judgment is coming. The world is claiming peace and safety.
The same thing in 2 Peter 3. The world thinks that all those promises of His coming is never going to happen. It’s been 2, 000 years. What a bunch of nonsense. We’ve got to be sober and alert. We’ve got to be watching. We know the end of the story. We need to live like that’s the truth now. No. There are politicians right now who are promising joy.
But God said, true joy, eternal joy, is only for those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is no real joy apart from that. There’s momentary happiness, but true joy that rises above circumstances that last forever comes through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, my brothers and sisters, we ought to be those reminding the world judgment is coming.
You know, so often the church downpedals sin and it plays down the whole idea of wrath and hell. And we don’t, we can’t scare people into heaven, can we? It is, it is the mercy of God that leads and the kindness of God leads to repentance. But if you’re going to give people good news, first they need to have the.
But the bad news, and the bad news is God is angry at sin and He is going to judge. And prophecy tells us there’s a solution. There’s a profound solution. Joy is for the believer, for everyone else, destruction and no escape. So as we understand God’s prophetic plan, it should motivate us. To watch expectantly for Jesus to come.
Do you want Jesus to come back? I so much want Him to come back. We should look expectantly every moment of every day, being ready, being alert, being sober. Boy, if He came back this moment, I’d be ready for that. I’m living for that. And then at the same time, I’m warning others of this wrath that is to come.
Does the world appreciate it when we tell them that? And they think we’re crazy. But oh, my friends. We’re right. This is the truth of history. It is coming. And I don’t know about you, I don’t want anybody I know and love to be left behind. And I certainly don’t want them. Someone, how come you didn’t warn me?
You knew. I don’t want to hear that. There is no wrath for those who know Jesus. We will live together with him. There is no peace or joy for those who do not. That’s what prophecy says. What does that do for us? Shouldn’t that motivate us toward evangelism? Shouldn’t that drive us to want to tell people?
Shouldn’t that embolden us to go and tell as many as we can to do what Jesus said? To take this gospel to every creature, to go into all the world to make disciples of how many? All the nations, every ethnic group. So we either go or we send people to go or we send money to people who are already there, but we are engaged, our lives are consumed with this prophetic reality that the wrath of God is coming and we want as many people as possible to be there on the joy side, not the wrath side.
So we are watchful. And we warn others before it’s too late. The second thing that prophecy does, turn to 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1 and following, prophecy gives us the ability to stand firm because we know what’s coming. Look at this great passage in 2 Thessalonians 2, Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And are gathering together to him that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed Either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come Now stop right there There are a lot of cults down through the centuries that have claimed that Jesus already came Have you heard about any of those?
And they tell you, well, he came at this date and he came at that date. Well, it was a spiritual coming, and he didn’t really, you know, he came spiritually, not physically, and on and on. Even though Acts chapter 1, verse 11, the angels said to the apostles, This Jesus whom you saw go will come back in the same way.
Physically. He’s coming back physically to be seen by the whole world. And yet these cult members claim, Oh, you missed it. You got left behind. Da da da da da… he says, Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come. What will not come? The day of the Lord will not come. We’ll talk more about that as we study Revelation.
Unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. Who is that? The Antichrist. And we’ll turn a lot about him in the book of Revelation. So, if he’s not here, the day of the Lord hasn’t come. Is he here? Boy, people have thought he was. People have thought it was Hitler.
People have thought 666, now that’s Ronald Reagan, because his three names each have six letters. Listen, Ronald Reagan was anything but the Antichrist, in my opinion. I think if we could bring him back, I’d bring him back today and vote for him. Oh yeah, enough of that.
He opposes and exalts himself above every so called god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being a god. That’ll happen at the midpoint of the tribulation on that abomination of desolations when he has won the Jewish people over, allows their temple to be built, and then claims that he’s the one they should worship.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? Wow! In three weeks, The Apostle Paul was teaching in depth theology. Do you like that? Ten or twelve of you, that’s pretty good. I love that. That tells me that the way you plant a healthy church is to get them founded in the truth as soon as possible.
And so he taught them these things. He says, You know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed? For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And now there’s a lot of ideas about who that is. Some say it’s Michael the Archangel.
I believe it’s the Holy Spirit. And I believe the Holy Spirit right now is restraining. Are you glad for that? Could you imagine how wicked our country would be if the Holy Spirit was not restraining evil? Boy, it would be way worse than it is now. But the Holy Spirit is still here. And by the way, if the Holy Spirit goes, I think some other people go with him.
That’s another time. Then that, he said that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming. We learn about all of those in detail in the book of Revelation. The one who’s coming is in accord with the activity of Satan with all powers and signs and false wonders while the deception and wickedness for those who perish.
They did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. So there are people who have heard the truth, but they won’t receive it. They won’t respond rightly to it, and they will not be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence, so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Boy, is our culture taking pleasure in wickedness? Isn’t Romans 1, aren’t you seeing it right before your eyes? Where God is giving them over to depraved minds, and they are approving of things that are an abomination to His sight. They’re having parades and celebrating all these things. They’re having our tax dollars go to promote these things.
We’re living in those days. Not these days. These are tribulation days. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So then, brethren, Paul says all of this theology, all of this doctrine, all of this understanding about the day of the Lord, all of this understanding about the Antichrist and Satan and how they’re ultimately gonna be defeated and cast into hell forever, all of that should lead you to verse 15. So then brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
Verse 15. Present imperatives there. What is the present imperative in the Greek? It means God is commanding you to do something, in essence, keep on doing what you’re doing. He’s writing to people who are persecuted and he is saying, you’ve been standing firm. Don’t let these lies that are being propagated to you about the end times.
Don’t listen to that nonsense. You stand firm. Stand your ground. Do not budge an inch. Do not give in to their lies. You need to believe what the Word of God says. Either the Apostles taught it to you directly, or the Apostles gave it to you in the inspired Scripture. Those are your two options on receiving truth about prophecy.
It’s either from the people of God, the prophets of God, that have said it to you, or it was written. And we have that now in the Word of God. Amen? So, what he is saying here, and that particular word stand firm has the emphasis on the firmness of the stand. It’s not just stand, it’s stand rock solid. Do not budge.
Do not give whatsoever. Keep on standing in absolute firmness, no wobbling, no weeble, no any of that stuff. You are rock solid. And then he says, hold fast or keep on holding fast. Hang on to this for dear life. The truth of the word of God. And by the way, the whole counsel of God, hang on to it. Do not be tricked by anything that contradicts it.
You hang on to truth so that, like in Ephesians 6, when the devil is attacking you, you put on that whole armor of God. You have that belt of, what is it? Truth. You have comprehensive truth. And out of that truth, you can pull out the sword of the Spirit, which is the spoken word of God. You now speak God’s truth.
You stand in it. You hold it fast. You do not give one bit whatsoever. And if you do that, Ephesians 6 says, James 4, 1 Peter 5 says, the enemy will flee. So be watchful and warn others. Stand firm because you know what’s coming. There’s a third reason to study prophecy. To be pure. Boy, does this need to be heard today?
Purity has become passe in our culture. In fact, as Isaiah 520 says, the world says, what you say is good is now evil and what you say is evil is now what? It’s good. They flipped it on its head. So everything the church stands for is being questioned and challenged and flipped and young people especially are being overwhelmed with lie after lie after lie, immoral, impure things.
But in 1st John 3, let’s look there first, verse 2. Beloved, now we are children of God. And it has not yet appeared as what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be what? Like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. When we see Jesus, and we’ll get to a passage in Thessalonians in a few minutes, we’ll When the rapture takes place, we will be instantly transformed.
First Corinthians 15, we will go from imperishable or perishable to imperishable. We will have new glorified bodies. Sin will be done away with. We will be absolutely pure. Amen. That’s the end goal. That’s what prophecy says is going to happen. If that’s what’s going to happen, how should we live in the meantime?
Should we live contrary to that or should we pursue that with all of our being? See, the Word of God is very clear. We ought to be pure as He Himself is pure, verse 3 says. If our hope is fixed on heaven, then we live like we’re going to heaven. We’re crying out to God, Oh God, please let your kingdom come that your will be done where?
On earth as it is in heaven. Does anybody disobey God in heaven? No, there’s purity, there’s holiness, there’s glory, and so we ought to be now representatives of Jesus Christ here on earth, as pure as we can possibly be. Young people, the goal is not to get as close to the world as you possibly can. The goal is to get as close to Jesus as you possibly can.
Even if the world says you’re a fool, even if the world says you’re missing out. I heard that all in my life growing up, but I’m telling you, it is so worth it to be pure as He is pure. No compromise, no hidden areas of my life, quick to confess, quick to repent, purifying my thoughts, my attitudes, my words, and my actions, being accountable to others to grow into change, fleeing sin and pursuing righteousness.
That’s what prophecy motivates us to do. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Am I hearing your pages turn? 2 Peter chapter 3. I’ll just wait until I hear them. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. Please read along with me in your Bible. You didn’t bring a Bible? Bring a Bible from now on, alright? You got an electronic one?
That’s alright, it’s better than nothing. Okay, 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come like a, what? in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since, okay, here’s the picture.
Everything that you know and see is gonna be obliterated and gone. It’s gonna be the largest atomic bomb ever in the history. The entire universe will explode. What happens next? Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?
Since none of this stuff that the world says you have to have is going to last, what should you live for? What’s eternal? What really matters? That can take us back to the discussion last week about stewardship of time, talents, and treasures. Are you laying up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust nor thief can break and steal?
Are you, is that where you’re laying up your treasures? Are you fixated on things here on this earth? Do you have to have another thing, another that? You know, I said last week how my wife and I have always lived. We’ve always tithed. We’ve always given above and beyond that to missions and to needs. And because of that, we’ve had to live more simply than others.
Uh, when, uh, we were, she was pregnant with our first son, she stopped working. And I only had a part time job. We had to trust God. We had to get creative. We had to do everything we possibly could. And over the years, God has provided more and more for us, and we feel very blessed. We hold it all like this.
But I can look at some of my neighbors, and oh my goodness, they’ve got every toy known to man. Anybody here like toys? Come on, you can admit. Anybody here like toys? You know, I like cabins, I like boats, I like RVs, I like all kinds of stuff, but that’s not my priority. Those things don’t matter to me unless I’m using them for the kingdom.
So Peter says, look, it’s all going to burn, so we ought to be holy and hastening the coming of the day of God. Because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. According to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth. We’ll learn about that in Revelation 21 and 22, in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace. How? Spotless and blameless. Isn’t that what Jesus wants us to be? Isn’t that what it says in Ephesians 5? His commitment to his bride is to present her someday spotless and blameless. That’s the work Jesus wants to do.
So Jesus wants to do that work. The Holy Spirit wants to do that work. The Word of God is compelling us to do that work, to participate in that. Because nothing else is going to matter someday. And he talks about regarding the patience of our Lord as salvation. He talks about our brother Paul who wrote some things that are difficult to understand and some people distort those things like they do to the rest of Scripture.
They twist Scripture to their own destruction. Verse 17, You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard. So that you’re not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen. Are there unprincipled pastors on television these days and on radio telling you that the universe is about you and when you get saved, God’s a genie in a bottle. And you just rub that bottle and bring him out and you ask him and he’s, he must give you whatever you ask for. You heard those kind of things?
Lies from the pit of hell. We don’t pray that way. We pray according to Jesus name. We pray according to God’s will be done, not Paul’s will being done. And there’s unprincipled, distorted kind of men out there. Misleading people, tickling ears. And we’re aware of that. There’s prophecies about that. So we need to be pure and we need to have a pure understanding of the word.
We don’t want to be like the frog in the pan of water that the heat was turned up slowly and the frog just stayed in there and gradually acclimated until it was hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter until the frog boils to death. We want to be sensitive to the sin that’s coming at us. Reader’s Digest way back in July of 1978 said this, a few years ago, young women blushed if they were embarrassed.
Today they are embarrassed if they blush. You catch what he’s saying? It used to be, if you said something crass to a young woman, she would turn red because that would have, are you kidding me? I have nothing to do with that. And today, if they’re accused of being purity, of being pure, that’s when they blush.
How sad that is. Look at Titus chapter 2. What should prophecy motivate us to do? Verse 11, Titus chapter 2,
Righteously and godly in the present age. You might say that that could be live according to my relationship with myself, my relationship with the world around me, my relationship to God. In every aspect of life, in every relationship, I must be godly. Why? Verse 13. Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.
You guys have any hopes outside of Jesus? I mean, honestly, you have any hopes, any things you hope for? I mean, I’m hoping the Dodgers win tonight. Anybody here agree with me on that one? I’m hoping, you know, I was really sad they lost that last game in New York. That’s just me. I’m a true blue Dodger fan. I want them to win.
I hope they win today. If you don’t hope that, I’ll pray for you. But notice how he says, we’re not looking for that. We’re not even looking for the hope they win the World Series and somehow I get free tickets. What we’re looking for is the blessed hope. The ultimate hope, the epitome of all hopes, the happiest hope you could ever have, this magnanimous, unbelievable, mind blowing hope that is beyond anything else you could ever hope for.
It’s for Jesus to come back and you go with Him. Wow, what did Jesus accomplish? Our great God and Savior, He gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for Himself. A people for his own possession, what? Zealous for good deeds. Jesus saved us so we would no longer be sinful.
That we would be pure. And holy, transformed from the inside out, not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds, and minds that are fixed on heaven, where we are going when all this stuff is gone, and so much wanting to be like Jesus that we would run the race to win, and we would say no to this world, we would say no to unrighteousness, we would say yes to Jesus, and then zealously go out and live for his glory.
In other words, like Peter. Prophecy motivates us to stand up and stand out. It purifies our morality. But prophecy purifies another thing. It purifies our perspective. We have a perspective on a lot of things, don’t we? And that perspective leads us to live a certain way. Revelation will keep taking us back and forth.
When we get into the book of Revelation, you’re gonna see, oh, we’re on earth, and we’re in heaven, and we’re on earth, and we’re in heaven, we’re on earth, we’re on heaven, and you’re gonna keep seeing these contrasting perspectives. What’s going on on earth? What does heaven think about that? What’s going on back on earth?
And it’s just going back and forth all through the book. Because we ought to be motivated by perspective Prophecy to have a new perspective on everything, a new value system. We look differently upon temporal things. We’re not that concerned. We don’t love the world nor the things of the world. We’re not caught up in materialism.
See, instead of materialism, what I live for is God’s mandate. What has God commanded us to do? What’s the greatest command? Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your. So I’m going to love God with all my being and love my neighbor because I know that’s the ultimate thing.
I’m going to be with God. I want my neighbor to be with God. So I’m going to do everything I can to love them. And then the mandate is to go out and make Disciples, not decisions, disciples. I want to see every person in this church maturing Christ, Colossians 1 says. I want to see everybody built up. I want to see everybody utilizing their spiritual gifts.
I want to see everybody investing in the kingdom. I want to see every one of you hear Jesus go, well done, good and faithful servant. That’s what motivates me.
Because I see the end.
When your perspective changes, it shows up in your time and in your money. You engage in what’s eternal. What’s, what’s eternal? There are three things that are eternal. God, God’s Word, and people. That’s it. And we have the privilege of engaging and serving and building up and having our life be around those three things.
That’s the perspective. I’m not wasting time on things that don’t matter. Ephesians 5, I’m redeeming the time for the days are evil and I’m investing in things that will last. So prophecy motivates us to be watchful and warn others. It motivates us to stand firm and know what’s coming. It motivates us to be pure.
There’s a fourth reason to study prophecy, and that is to be mutually supportive and encouraging. There’s a couple passages here I want to highlight for you. In Hebrews 10, the passage you know well, and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assuming together as the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see what.
The day drawing near. What day is that? That’s the day of Christ’s return. That’s the day when all this is over with. The day we’re with Him forever. And as you see that approaching, and he wrote this, the author of Hebrews wrote this to people severely persecuted. Wondering, did we do something wrong by following Jesus?
Because we’ve got nothing but grief ever since we did. He says, oh no, no, no, don’t misunderstand here. Stand firm in your steadfastness here. And by the way, God When you gather together, and by the way, should you forsake your gathering? Should you stay at home simply because it can be seen online? No, you should be with the people of God if you can physically be there, be there.
So engage with the people of God, come, but that’s not his main point. He says, don’t just go to church, go with a purpose. Consider ahead of time, give careful thought to, plan out in advance how you’re going to stimulate one another. You’re going to stir up emotions and feelings. Feelings and responses you’re gonna challenge and provoke one another you’re gonna be iron sharpening iron when you come to church You’re not just gonna sit and vegetate You’re not just going to come and listen, you’re going to percolate, you’re going to have life, you’re going to flow over onto others, you’re going to look for ways to encourage and build up and strengthen.
And so you’re going to do all of that to encourage, to cause someone to be encouraged, to infuse courage into someone else. You’re going to tell people how and why they ought to stand for Jesus. You’re going to share what God did in your life. This past week and how he helped you through difficult times.
You’re going to offer to pray for people. You’re going to meet financial needs. When you come to church, you are coming to participate. Amen. Amen. This is what it’s about. We are a family. We are an organism and every body part is critical. So we come with that in mind. And more so when you see the day coming near, we’re on a mission from God and we are here as the body of Christ to encourage and build each other up, especially when we know what’s coming.
We know difficult times are coming. We know persecution is going to increase, don’t we? Do you see it? Do you feel it? We know it’s coming. We know that some people in our midst have just lost loved ones in the last few weeks. We know some that are in the hospital facing very serious issues. We need to come in understanding and expecting people to be hurting.
And also expecting that they’ll be honest. We don’t need to play games here. We don’t need to wear masks. How are you doing? I’m great. Liar. No, really, how are you doing? How are you really doing? How am I really doing? You really want to know? Yes, I really want to know. Frankly, I’m not sure how I’m gonna get to the end of the month.
Money’s gone. Bills are building up. Just got a report from the doctor. My health is horrible. My kids are struggling. I have dear ones I care for that aren’t saved. That’s how I’m doing. Oh, I’m here for you. I want to walk through that with you. How can I help? I want to encourage you, Jesus is on the throne.
He knows. He cares. And I’m going to be praying for you. I’m a phone call away any moment you need me. See, that’s the body of Christ, amen? That’s what we’re supposed to be. In 1 Thessalonians 4, it’s what he talks about. Some of you have had some people die. You’ve been lied to by some false teachers who said that, uh, you know, it’s too late, too bad for them.
They won’t be here when Jesus comes back. He says, I want to tell you something. There’s hope beyond the grave. And those that are, have been, who have already died in Christ, they will rise when first some people have said they have six feet further to go. That’s why, but I think that’s kind of silly. They will rise with new glorified bodies.
We will rise with them. And we will meet Christ in the air. And thus we will always be with the Lord. And then he says this profound truth. He says, therefore, comfort one another with these words. What is a right response to prophecy, to understanding where the end really is taking us? We comfort each other.
We come alongside each other. We alleviate sorrows and distress. We give emotional strength. We renew hope. And by the way, the word comfort there and the word encourage, if you wonder why I didn’t read verse 11 when we went through 1 Thessalonians 5, it’s because it’s the same word as here. It’s the same word where it says encourage, it’s the word comfort, but he also says you build up.
What do you mean? It’s a construction term. You’re building a house and it’s not quite done. Anybody here still in process? Why do you gather? You come together to build up each other. Every joint. Works together. The supply comes from the whole body, and we’re all built up in love till we all grow to the maturity of being like Christ.
That’s the body of Christ. And all the more when you see, time’s up here folks. Jesus could come back at any moment. I want to invest in your life today. That’s what he’s saying. So prophecy motivates us to be watchful and warn others, to stand firm because we know what’s coming, to be pure and to be mutually supportive and encouraging.
The fifth and final reason that I could find as far as biblical texts, Isaiah 46 verses nine through 11 says, be convinced of God’s sovereign reign. Now in Isaiah 41, just real quick, we’re almost done. In Isaiah 41, it says there that the reason you can know that God is God and the, and the, uh, the idols are not, is only God can give you prophecies that come true.
Only God can do that. These false gods that the people were worshiping can’t do it. By the way, how many holy books available on planet earth today have actually seen fulfilled prophecies? One, the Bible. That’s it. Why? Because all of the others are false gods. So that’s an extreme black and white statement, pastor.
Yes, it is because it’s true. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. And no one comes to the father except through me. Jesus is the only savior. And so when you understand that, well, you are convinced not only that God can tell us what’s going to happen in the future, but that God guarantees it’s going to happen in the future.
Then that tells me that God is sovereign. God is in control of how many things? How much of the time? Do you believe that? I gotta tell you, that is the most freeing doctrine I have ever studied in my life. I love studying doctrine. I love studying about God. I love studying about eschatology and ecclesiology and soteriology and homardiology and all the other ologies.
I love them all. But there is something about the sovereignty of God that is the most profoundly comforting and encouraging thing that there is. My God is the God of history. How about you? He knows what’s gonna go on. He is not surprised about what I’m facing. He’s not surprised by what my grandchildren are going to face in their lifetime, is he?
Did he know it was gonna happen? Is he prepared? Yes, and so I rest in that. Isaiah 46, Remember the former things long past, for I am God and there is no other. And there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass, I have planned it, surely I will do it. Amen? Can anybody thwart God? His purposes will be accomplished. So I want to study prophecy so I know what he’s going to do so I can align my life with what he’s planning to do. I want to be fully engaged with his kingdom plan and what he’s going to do and join in 100%.
I don’t want to be half hearted about it. I want to know and I want to engage fully because I know that God can be trusted. By the way, how many of the prophecies of the first coming were fulfilled by Jesus? All of them. How many of the prophecies of the second coming will be fulfilled? All of them. Do you believe that?
See, when all of a sudden you’re threatened and your life is on the line, and you’re someone saying, if you believe that stuff, you’re going to die. I can say, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Look, I’m either going to be alive when he comes back, and that’s going to be the most thrilling ride ever.
I like Magic Mountain, but it’s got nothing compared to this. Either that’s going to happen, or you’re going to kill me, and I’m going to see him sooner either way. I belong to him forevermore. And there’s not a thing you can do about that. This is what prophecy does for us. It’s not just an intellectual pursuit.
It’s reality. Prophecy tells us that in the end we win. We are on the right side of history. If you believe that you’ll stand up and stand out for Jesus. So why study prophecy? Be watchful and warn others. Stand firm, know what’s coming. Be pure, be mutually supportive and encouraging, and be convinced of God’s sovereign plan.
Why specifically study the book of Revelation? We’ll come back next week and I’ll tell you. But I want to end with this, because this is really practical. When I was in seminary, it was my first semester in seminary, and, uh, I went to seminary because I loved Jesus. I loved his word. I wanted to know it better.
I wanted to be useful. I wanted to be able to proclaim his truth. In the first semester I was there, it was intense. I, I read more books and studied more in that first few months than I had my entire career from kindergarten through college. In a couple of months, it was intense. And it became academic to me.
We had classes on Tuesday nights and, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I had exams all day Tuesday and Tuesday night, all day Thursday and Thursday night. I didn’t sleep for three days. I was exhausted. I began feeling like the Bible had become a textbook. It was just information for me to know. So I walked into, they were having a special worship service that Thursday night at Grace Community Church, and I walked in.
I heard a song that was sung, it kind of encouraged me and I was still wrestling through, man, is this real? Is this true? Or is this just information?
And this gal got up and sang this song.
It was about Jesus coming back,
beholding him face to face. I’d never heard the song before, never met the gal before, but I’m listening to that song. I close my eyes. And I pictured, one of the reasons I cry a lot is because I have a very vivid imagination. And I was in heaven, and there were millions around the throne,
and Jesus
was on the throne. And I remember hearing the multitudes praise Him. I was overwhelmed. Believe it or not, I actually started crying. And, uh,
As I was taking in what was going on, a couple thoughts went through my mind. Number one, why did you struggle so much with sin and temptation when it didn’t matter? Why did you give in to anything when this is the goal of your life? And the second thing that hit me was why weren’t you bolder for Jesus when you had the chance?
And I wept. God used that to tell me, son, my word is true. These things are going to happen. Build your life on it. It’s so profoundly impacted my life and the gal that sang that song just ministered me so much that I married her and, uh,
best decision I ever made other than accepting Christ. Why do I say this? Why do we study prophecy? It’s true. It’s true. And it changes everything about your life. Your motives, your perspective, your thoughts, your attitudes, your words, your actions. All are now driven by this truth that Jesus is coming back.
Amen. Can I ask you a question? As the worship team is going to come up and have a last song for us. I just want to ask you a question. Are you ready? Are you ready? If Jesus came back right now, have you responded to the gospel? Have you turned from sin and trusted in him alone? Do you really believe that he lived a sinless life and died in your place and Went to the cross, died, was buried, rose from the dead, conquered sin and death, ascended to the Father, is sitting at the right hand as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Do you believe that He’s the sovereign master of your life and that you must submit to Him? Have you received His free gift of eternal life as the only way you can get to heaven? Because if you haven’t, prophecy is going to just call you, you must, you must. There is no other answer. Evaluate where do you stand with Jesus? Does he have the proper place he should have in your life today?
